How to find your ideal weight for the summer and feel better

Summer is finally here, and you have more to look forward to then just warm weather throughout the season. You also might want to lose weight; it is a popular tendency at this time of the year.

Weight gain is not an inevitability of ageing – although, for many people, as they accumulate years under their belt, they also gain pounds.

A big part of this is down to the modern dietary environment, which encourages gradual weight gain over time. It’s no coincidence that the rapid rise in obesity happened around the same time highly processed foods became more available. Also, some genes can predispose you to obesity, type 2 diabetes or heart disease.

But the relatively new science of epigenetics tells us that despite the genes that you were dealt with at birth, at least 70-80pc of these genes are triggered by lifestyle/environmental factors. You can influence them through your lifestyle such as your sleep, the food you eat, the amount you exercise and the environmental toxins you are exposed to.

In short: you can stop you from gaining weight if you want to.

How to reset your body to burn fat?

Successful weight loss requires something that creates the right environment for your body to use its stored energy, the body fat.

This is a completely natural process, called ketosis, when your body starts converting stored fat into ketones to use as fuel for your cells.

If you eat a lot of refined carbohydrates or eat regularly throughout the day, you will never enter into ketosis. Instead, your body will simply use all the glucose from the carbohydrates as a fuel and you not end up using stored body fat at all.

The premise is you need to deprive your body of glucose, the main source of energy for all cells in the body, which is obtained by eating carbohydrate foods.

During ketosis, your body will prioritize fat burning, which is not only a cleaner source of energy but also a more sustainable one.

This is probably why you don’t feel hungry after a meal full of good fats, vegetables and proteins. Another interesting part about this approach is that it typically stimulates satiety hormones.

1 – Eat healthy fats

High-fat diets are becoming more and more popular. From athletes and bodybuilders to nutritionists, everyone is saying that you must eat fat to burn fat. This nutrient fills you up quickly, curbs hunger and boosts your metabolism to burn fat more efficiently.

Healthy fats to fuel your body:

Avocados, coconut oil, nuts and seeds, extra-virgin olive oil.

Make sure you few of these fats at each meal and snack. Regarding the quantity, this is something I can guide you in private coaching since everyone as his metabolism and goal.

2 – Focus on eating real, whole foods

Real foods are single-ingredient foods that are rich in vitamins and minerals, lack chemical additives and are mostly unprocessed.

There are lots of real foods in every food group, so there are many you can incorporate into your diet, here are just a few examples:

Eat plenty of the following:

Non-starchy vegetables, like spinach, kale, bell peppers, tomatoes, courgettes, broccoli.
Grass-fed meats, pastured chicken and eggs and wild-caught fish.
Some lower-sugar fruits like raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, apple.
Chia seeds, quinoa, etc.

3 – Avoid processed sugars and refined carbohydrates

Limit your intake of white pasta and breads, cereals, biscuits and cakes.

4 – Be careful with liquid calories intake

Avoid or reduce your alcohol intake and all other calories you might drink such as juice.

5 – Try Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent Fasting retrains your body to burn fat. There are a lot of different methods for intermittent fasting, and research is still being done on which one is the most effective.

The one my clients have most result is: all you have to do is limit your eating to an eight hour window in ever 24-hour day.

This gives the body time to digest the nutrients you eat, and then use them, rather than continually supplying it with an excess of food. In those 16 hours of fast, you’re body will probably exhaust its short-term supply of carbs and turn to burning fat for energy instead.

Many of my clients have had success with IF, reporting weight loss, muscle gain, stabilisation of energy levels and controlled hunger hormones.

6 – Get quality sleep

The amount of sleep you get directly affects your diet. People who consistently get less than six hours of sleep also show glucose and insulin levels and characteristics similar to diabetics, even if they are otherwise very healthy.

Your fat cells lose their ability to properly use insulin. As your body becomes more resistant to insulin, it will produce more and more in order to function. This leads to fat build up.

Getting at least seven hours of sleep is vital to optimal health. Not getting enough sleep also makes your more stressed out, which in turn makes it more difficult for you to control your appetite. A sleep-deprived body will produce more of the stress hormone cortisol.

Cortisol triggers the reward center in your brain and makes you crave food. The combination of more cortisol and more ghrelin mean that you’ll need to eat more food than you normally would in order to feel satisfied. Please Read my top sleep tips.

7 – Move more!

You can’t exercise your way out of a bad diet. It can help you burn more calories and reduce risks of illness.

8 – Your mindset is crucial

Shifting your mindset about how to lose weight is the biggest factor in losing weight. Most people try to lose weight with the worst state of mind possible: wanting to “fix” themselves. My client have lasting results when they focus on the good that can come of weight loss, such as better health, a longer life, more energy in everyday activities which gives them more fun time to work on their dreams.

5 tips to help you to have your mind on the path to success

Take time to clearly determine WHY you want to lose weight, write it down and read them as often as you need to keep your mindset.

Surround yourself with positive people
Rethink reward and punishment. Keep in mind that making healthy choices is a way of practicing self-care
Taking a few minutes at the beginning of your day, to slow down and simply focus on the act of breathing can help you set your intentions, connect with your body and even lower your body’s stress response.
Celebrate your successes.
Give yourself some credit when you accomplish a goal. When you feel pride in yourself, you will increase your motivation

Taking the decision to lose weight, to adopt a healthier lifestyle should be more for your appearance, it is deciding to feel better and have more energy. Moreover, remember your behaviour changes is not just reaching a certain number on the scale, it is to be ready to take action for more rewarding body and mind health.

It’s all well and good to have tips on how to lose weight, remember that everyone has their bio-individuality, their –why- and motivation. This article gives valuable insights to help you lose weight. I’m going to talk to you from experience, losing weight is not easy in general, so having a Health Coach to help you achieve your goals is a key success factor! Well yes, I’m preaching for my parish, I see it every day! A professional will guide you to the solutions that will work for you and motivate you, because for me, your goals are mine!

Good luck with your mind body connection for this journey.

If you want to improve your diet and your health, write to us now through our contact form.